


The woman from nowhere

by Tolazytocomeupwithaname



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: AU, Gen, Minor Character Death, Sort Of, human doctor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2020-06-27 11:06:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19789606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tolazytocomeupwithaname/pseuds/Tolazytocomeupwithaname
Summary: When a mysterious woman is brought into Sheffield police station Yaz is determined to help her.





	1. Chapter one

Yaz woke to the insistent beeping of her alarm clock. She shut it off with a quick tap and padded downstairs to fix herself a morning cup of tea.

Once she was feeling more alert she realised with a wince that she had once again missed morning prayers with her Nani. With a guilty glance at the time on her phone she vowed to make it up to her after work before beginning her daily search for enough bobby pins to fix her police bun and setting of into the grey morning for her run to work. 

Trainers pounding against the footpath she noticed with annoyance a stray sweet wrapper stuck to the bottom of her shoe. Looking back she realised that she had run through what looked like the contents of someone’s pockets. Doubling back she shoved a handful of sweet wrappers, an old pocket watch, an assortment of key rings and a wind up mouse into her own pockets to throw away next time she came across a bin. There was no point in letting one bad egg to ruin the environment for everyone, and besides, those sweet wrappers could easily be a tripping hazard.

Once she reached the station Yaz was put on paperwork duty despite her protests. It was an hour in when the shouting began. 

“Let me go!” 

“Put me down.”

“Easy love we’re just gonna keep you overnight until you’ve sobered up a bit.” That was Rogers, her supervisor. 

“You don’t understand, the faith of the world is at stake.” The second voice was frantic, northern accent thick with panic. 

Yaz was already making her way into the other room when she heard Rogers swear. “The little witch bit me.” 

Yaz entered the room in time to see Rogers shoving a blonde woman into the nearest cell. He turned around still rubbing his injured hand irritability and spotted Yaz. 

“Khan I need you to keep an eye on this one while I disinfect this, careful she’s trouble.”

“Yes sir.” 

Yaz had already turned her attention to the women in the cell who was pacing back and forward and appeared to be dressed in rainbow braces and a crumpled shirt and where those singe marks on her sleeves.

“You look like you’ve been blown up” Yaz said partly because it was true but mostly she was trying to distract the woman who was in appeared to be trying to dig her way through the concrete cell floor with her bare hands. 

“Bit of an accident with my new machine, not to worry though I should have the kinks worked out just as soon as I get out of here.”  
“ Stop that, you’ll hurt yourself.” 

The woman was still trying to claw her way out to the detriment of her fingernails. 

“What’s your name?” The woman stood up suddenly looking Yaz dead in the eyes.

“PC Khan, uh Yasmin.” Yaz stumbled under the intensity of the woman's stare. 

“Right Yasmin, I need to get out of here so I can fix my machine and get home. Do you think you can help me with that?” 

“Where's home then?” Yaz stalled. 

“Don’t know” the woman shrugged as she eyed up the bars covering the cells small window. 

“What do you mean you don't know” Yaz asked startled. 

“I’m sure I’ll recognise it when I get there.” 

“I’m pretty sure it’s blue” the woman added after a pause.

“Blue” Yaz parroted back absolutely bewildered. 

“I’m almost certain. So what do you say Yasmin, will you help me?” 

Yaz took in the womans bedraggled appearance as she processed the conversation up to this point. 

“Yes of course I’ll help” she said because the woman clearly needed it. “But” she said before the woman could get any ideas. “Your going to need to wait there for a little longer. Don’t you worry though, you have my word that I’ll do my best to help you.” 

The woman nodded seemingly satisfied just as Rogers returned. 

“You can pop off home Khan this is going to take a while to process” he nodded in her direction. 

She began to leave but paused when she got to the door.

“Actually could I have a word with you. In private.” she added as she felt the woman's gaze boring into her back. 

“I want to be put on this case” she began as soon as they are out of earshot already gearing up for the anticipated disagreement.

“Sure” Rogers shrugged. 

“Wait really?”  
“I don’t know if I’d even call it a case and your shift ended 20 minutes ago but you can come in and fill in the paperwork in the morning, less work for me.” 

“Right then” Yaz said. She had the distinct impression that she was being humored. Honestly was to much to ask for people to take things seriously. Really as far as Yaz was concerned that attitude was very indicative of how the mentally ill were being treated by those in positions of power. That woman clearly needed help and all they were doing for her was holding her in a cell overnight. 

Yaz was halfway home before she realised she never found out the woman's name. Mildly irritated at herself for that oversight she vowed to find out first thing in the morning and get the woman the help she needed. 

Yaz pushed past her sister Sonya when she reached home, ignoring the jab about what could have kept her at work so late and headed straight into her room. She had research to do. 

Yaz left the flat before even her nani had risen for the morning prayer. She had been up late researching ways to help the woman and she was feeling confident in her ability to follow through on her promise. 

Yaz reached the station only to find that the woman had been released before her shift began. Yaz was unable to get a straight answer out of anyone as to the women's whereabouts or even her identity which only served to further infuriate her. 

Yaz left the police station as soon as her shift had ended and spent the rest of her evening visiting local soup kitchens and homeless shelters in search of the woman. 

Eventually she returned home. Empty handed and increasingly worried. Despite her efforts the first clue to the woman's identity comes entirely by chance. 

She’s sorting through a stack of old newspapers her dad has accumulated when she spots a familiar figure. The photo is a grainy still from a CCTV camera. The article is looking for information about the woman who was apparently the sole witness to a local woman's electrocution. Yaz took down the details noting with a wince that the paper was already three months old. Still at least she had a lead.


	2. Chapter two

The slip of paper that Yaz had written the address of the deceased woman's family bore a hole in her pocket. Despite her promise to help the woman she couldn’t help but think guiltily of the emotional impact she could have on this family if she just turned up out of the blue and started questioning them about their loved ones death months after the incident. Nevermind the effect that move could have on her own career. 

After mulling the problem over she decided to at least attempt to go through the proper channels again before taking matters into her own hands. At the start of her shift the first thing she did was confront Rogers about the woman's disappearance. 

“I’m sorry Khan but we didn’t have any reason to hold her. What do you want me to do bring her back in for a chat?” 

“I want you to actually help the people we promised to protect not lock them up and through them back out on the street without the support they need.”

“If your want to see her again I’m sure she’ll be back before you know it. These druggies never stay free for long.” 

Yaz saw red at that and had to walk out before she said something she’d regret. 

She practically ran to the address at the end of her shift only to stop short at the front door. Maybe this was a bad idea after all. What was she even supposed to say to these people. She turned to leave again only to come face to face with a white haired man coming up the garden path. 

“You alright love?” 

Too late to back out now. 

“I’m looking for either Ryan Sinclair or Graham O’Brien” 

“Well I’m Graham so you’d better come in”. 

Yaz followed him into the house feeling more and more guilty by the second. Sitting on Grahams couch, nursing a mug of tea she asked about what happened to Grace. It took some prompting but eventually Graham explained how is wife had been struck by lightning which Yaz supposed wasn’t impossible but at the same time didn’t seem very likely. 

Moving on Yaz showed the picture of the woman to Graham. Something unreadable flashed over his face before he told Yaz he thought other woman might be a friend of his grandson but that he wasn’t sure of her identity or even if it was the same woman. 

Yaz thanked Graham for his help and told him she’d be back tomorrow to speak to his grandson. As Graham was showing Yaz out his grandson decided to make his appearance. 

“Yazmin Khan, what are you doing here”. The man's brow furrowed in confusion. Not just any man Yaz realised, it was Ryan Sinclair, she’d gone to primary school with him.

“Ryan. Hi, I haven't seen you in years.”

“You a fed now?” Ryan asked looking down at her uniform. Yaz flinched thinking guilty about why she was there but their was a teasing tone in Ryan's voice.

“She’s here about your nan” came Grahams voice behind her. 

“Nan?” Ryans brow furrowed in confusion. “I thought that was sorted ages ago”. 

“I’m just here to double check some things” Yaz said as she rooted around her pockets to produce the picture. “Do you recognise this woman?” she asked brandishing the photo. 

Ryans demeanor changed immediately. “Sorry, I can’t help you.” He said practically pushing her out the door.

“Rude” Yaz muttered to herself as she found herself staring at the closed door, which while true didn’t line up with her memories of Ryan from primary school at all. The whole situation was weird and Yaz was going to get to the bottom of it.

None of the shelters she had visited would give her any information about the people who availed of their services and with Graham and Ryan refusing to give her any information she found herself resorting to wandering around the neighbourhood in the hopes that she would somehow stumble across the woman. 

This plan seemed so unlikely to actually work that when a familiar voice startled her out of her thoughts Yaz was convinced she had imagined it. 

“Yasmin! Hi!” 

The woman grinned widely at the sight of Yaz even as she stood in a large wheelie bin. 

Yaz rushed forward to stop the woman from falling as she clumsily tried to climb out of the bin. 

“Oops” the woman laughed as she fell into Yazs arms. 

Yaz found herself laughing too mostly out of relief as she tried to ignore the fact that the woman stank to the high heavens. She reached forward to wipe some dirt off the woman's cheek before stopping herself, realising how close they were standing she took a step back blushing “I’m glad your okay”. 

“Of course I’m okay, I’m the king of okay” said the woman looking perplexed at the thought that she would be anything other than fine.

“I kind of thought you would be mad at me”. “For not being there the other morning when you were released” Yaz elaborated at the womans confused frown. 

“Can’t be mad at my friend Yasmin”. 

“We’re friends?” Yaz felt a sense of warmth spreading through her despite herself.

“Of course” the woman grinned.

“What were you even doing in there” Yaz asked.

“I’m looking for supplies?” the woman announced proudly”. 

“Supplies?” “Yeah, I need to fix the tv. It's range is severely limited which means we can only pick up channels from this planet. Do you know how little choice there is if you can’t even get channels from the nearest galaxy”. 

“Not really” said Yaz beginning to feel like bewildered would be her natural state when talking to this woman. “Does that mean you found your home?” Yaz asked trying to get the conversation back on track. 

As soon as the words left her mouth she knew she’d said the wrong thing. The woman's face crumples and her entire body seems to droop. 

“Hey” Yaz said reaching out to comfort her. The woman took a step back and Yaz withdrew her hand.

“Tell you what,” Yaz said mind racing for a solution. “I can help you find your home and in the meantime I have the address for this really good shelter you could stay in until we sort this out.” 

The woman just shook her head as she looked inexplicably towards the sky. 

“Or you could stay with me” she said. Her mother would probably kill her but she couldn't just leave the woman to wander the streets. The woman just continued to stare mournfully at the stars.

“My friends call me Yaz” she said trying desperately to distract the woman. This gets her attention. “Yaz! We’re friends. ''

“Yeah we are” Yaz said relieved that the woman was talking again.

“My friend calls me Marty sometimes” the woman, Marty said with a grin. 

“Then I’ll call you Marty too.”

“So about that shelter.” she tried cautiously. 

The woman returned her gaze briefly to the sky before returning her attention to Yaz with a shake of her head. “Can’t stay in a shelter, they might try and harvest my brain in my sleep.”

Yaz eyed Marty trying to figure out if she was kidding. Marty seemed serious so Yaz tried suggesting staying with her again. When Marty once again refused Yaz found herself feeling disappointed despite knowing bringing home a filthy stranger probably wouldn’t go over well with her family. 

“So, where are you gonna stay tonight?” Yaz asked wondering what other options there where. 

“I’ve a really comfy sofa to sleep on” Marty announced proudly. “Speaking of I should be getting back before they start to worry”, with that she gathered up the odds and ends she’d gathered from the bin and took off down the street. 

Yaz stayed where she was for a moment trying to figure out what was the best thing to do before following Marty at a distance. It wasn’t really spying she reassured herself, she just wanted to make sure she was okay. 

Marty wandered around the neighbourhood for about an hour stopping to root through more bins to add to her odd collection and once to have a long drawn out conversation with a stray cat about the works of Shakespeare. 

Yaz was debating whether or not she should reveal herself when Marty stopped outside a familiar house. So they were lying to me Yaz thought with a sinking feeling as the woman went inside. Yaz settled down in front of the window to watch. She felt like a bit of a creep but she was determined to at least make sure Marty was okay.

Yaz couldn’t hear what was being said but Ryan immediately spotted Marty and didn’t seem all that surprised to see her. Marty and Ryan left the room and Yaz was just about to go up and knock when Marty returned, now clean and wearing a pair of too large pyjamas. Yaz promised herself that she would head home in five minutes as she watched Marty settle down to sleep on the sofa.


	3. Chapter three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And suddenly plot appears.

Yaz woke up blearily confused as to why her bed was so uncomfortable only to realise she had fallen asleep in the bushes outside Ryan and Graham's house. 

Upon realising it was already bright outside she got up and out of there as quickly as she could. Hopefully no one had seen her, at least it was still early enough that no one was around yet. 

Or not she realised as she took out her phone and saw the time. She was already late for work. She decided to forget about Marty and focus on work at least for the next week or so. This decision should have been made easier by the fact that she was finally given something interesting to do at work. Unfortunately she was going to be working closely with one of the shelters she had visited when she was looking for Marty. Several women who had been staying in the shelter had disappeared over the past week. 

Despite her worry about Marty she tried to tell herself that she would be fine. She was clearly staying with Ryan and Graham and had the sense to stay away from this place.

The shelter was crowded and Yaz’s work wasn’t helped by the fact that the women there were distrustful of police in general and thanks to her questions when she was looking for Marty, Yaz specifically. 

Yaz was walking home from the shelter late at night when she spotted a blonde figure curled up on a park bench. Yaz rushed towards it her heart sinking. Sure enough it was Marty. Yaz tapped her cheek praying for her to be okay. She felt a pang of relief when she saw her eyes flutter. 

“Come on, wake up” Yaz pleaded. 

Marty opened her eyes with a confused frown. 

“You're okay” Yaz breathed with relief. 

“Of course I’m okay, I’m the king of okay,” she said. She still looked confused though her eyes darting around as she took in her surroundings.

“What are you doing here?” Yaz asked. 

“I’ve been looking for a doctor”

“A doctor?”

“What’s wrong with that?” 

“It’s late and you’re in a park”.

“Nothing wrong with that, love a good park with me.” 

“Have you been ill” Yaz asked changing tacts. Marty's eyes were glassy and she was shaking slightly but then again the night wasn’t exactly warm.

Marty's face contorted into a confused frown which quickly turned into indignation. “I don’t get sick, who told you I get sick”.

“You were looking for a doctor” Yaz reminded her gently.

“Maybe looking for was the wrong word, I was a doctor? Will be a doctor?”

“Look Marty,how about we go back to my flat for a cup of tea and figure it out from there.” Yaz had the apartment to herself while her family was at a wedding which should give her some time to work out a more long term solution. 

Marty still looked confused though. “Marty, is that me?” 

Okay that was definitely concerning.

“You said that’s what your friends call you the other day.” Yaz paused as a thought struck her. “You do know who I am, right?” 

The woman nodded her head vigorously before shaking her head and giving an apologetic shrug. 

Yaz pushed down the feeling of hurt, the woman clearly wasn’t well, it wasn’t her fault, before continuing cautiously, “My flats only over in park hill, I really think you should come back with me.”

“Haven't got time for that, I’ve loads to do.” 

“Like what?”

Marty, or whoever she was looked around her for inspiration “I’ve got to speak to whoever's responsible for this bench for a start. It’s far to uncomfortable, doesn’t hold a candle to a good sofa.”

“How about you come back to mine and we sort that out in the morning.” 

The woman wasn’t much bigger than Yaz but she could hardly throw her over her shoulder and carry her home. Still Yaz didn’t like the idea of leaving her here by herself any better. 

The woman gave Yaz an appraising look before turning around and running dead sprint in the opposite direction. 

Yaz stood for a second, startled before taking off after her. It was no use though, the woman was surprisingly fast and Yaz soon lost her in the darkness. Having no choice but to call it quits Yaz turned around and continued at a much slower pace back towards her flat. 

She hadn’t even reached the end of the park before she came across yet another figure lying on a park bench. Yaz supposed she wouldn't exactly be surprised, particularly as the women's shelter hadn’t proved to be a safe place to spend the night. 

“Madam, I’m sorry Madam” Yaz went to shake the woman's shoulder only to pull her hand back when she realised the woman's eyes are open and unseeing. Immediately she went for the pulse point in the woman's neck. When she found no sign of life she tried both wrists for good measure before she dialed 999 and administered CPR. When the paramedics arrived on the seen they pronounced her dead on the spot although they would need to wait for the autopsy report to find the cause. 

As they were looking for any form of identification on the woman Yaz realised why she had looked familiar. It was one of the missing women from the shelter.

Fuck.

Marty was out there on her own. 

Yaz took off running. Where could she have gone? Yaz was pretty sure the sirens would have scared her away for the park. But if she was looking for a doctor maybe not?

Yaz was on her third lap around the park when she realised she had most likely returned to Ryan and Grahams. Yaz ran the whole way there only to pause out of breath when she reached the gate. 

The house was in darkness. The door was unsurprisingly locked. When she peered through the sitting room window Yaz saw to her relief a figure draped across the sofa. It must be Marty. 

Worry at least marginally put at ease Yaz considered her options. She couldn’t exactly wake everyone up at this time of night and she’d already spent enough time in front of this window for there to be a danger of the neighbours calling the police. She didn’t have much choice other than to head home. 

Between how quiet her flat was without her family there, the worry for Marty twisting around inside her gut and the memory of the woman she found in the park Yaz didn’t get much sleep that night. 

She rose early the next morning committed to at least checking on Marty before she went down to the shelter. This proved unnecessary however when she spotted a familiar blonde woman sitting on the wall outside her block of flats. 

“Yaz! Hi!” she shouted jumping down off the wall and running up to Yaz.

“You're okay” Yaz went to hug her friend out of relief only to stop when she took a startled step backwards. Instead looked her up and down. Thankfully other than her clothes being slightly crumpled she seemed to be no worse for wear. 

“Of course I’m okay, I already told you I'm the king of okay”.

“Does that mean you remember me then?”

“Course I do. Can’t forget about my friend Yaz.” Just had a bit of a wobble yesterday, nothing to worry about” she added at the sight of Yaz’s raised eyebrow. 

“Are you talking to anyone about these uh wobbles?”

“Of course. Right now I’m talking to you.” 

“That's not really what I meant.” Yaz muttered to herself. 

“Can I come with you?” Yaz thought for a second. Taking Marty with her probably wasn’t the best idea but then again she wasn’t sure she was ready to let her out of her sight just yet. “Sure. why not?”

“A day out with Yaz. Brilliant.” 

Yaz explained about the missing women and the one she found the night before as they walked. 

Once they reached the shelter they split up to question the women there. This went even worse for Yaz then the last time she tried this. Very few of the women would talk to her and the few who did claimed no knowledge of the woman she saw. 

She watched Marty chatting to a group of women out of the corner of her eye as one of the volunteers told her that many of the women had had bad experiences with the police in the past and that if she was going to continue to bother their residents she would need a warrant. Marty came over just as the woman had finished chewing Yaz out. 

“Yaz, there’s a spare bed.” 

“Oh” Yaz said cautiously, not sure if she should be encouraging this “do you want to stay here?” 

Marty's face scrunched up in a confused frown. “No, Yaz listen. There’s a spare bed.” 

Yaz looked at her blankly. Noone remembers this woman you saw, but there’s a bed with no one to claim it. Do you think this is the kind of place that usually has beds to spare?” 

“Huh”. Yaz wasn’t sure what to make of that. “I’m free for the rest of the day, wanna come round and watch a film?” 

“A film at Yaz’s? Amazing. I love a good film.” 

One film turned into three which turned into pizza and ice cream and by the time Marty had disassembled Yazs’ kettle with the insistence that she could make it boil twice as fast Yaz suggested she stay the night. Remarkably Marty agreed. 

It wasn’t until Marty was dressed in a pair of borrowed pajamas and Yaz was eyeing her single bed with a blush that she realised there might be an issue here. 

“These are great, It’s like a proper sleepover” Marty said pulling at her pale pink pajama top. 

“I’m glad you like them.” Yaz hesitated. “How about you get settled here and I’ll sleep on the sofa.”

“No way. Never know what you might find hiding under a bed. Can’t risk it.” 

Yaz was about to argue. Marty was a guest afterall. But she seemed to be eyeing the bed with genuine fear. “At least take the duvet” Yaz conceded. At least she was likely to get a good night's sleep now that she knew Marty was safe in the other room. 

This didn’t stop her waking up in the middle of the night. The flat felt strangely quiet but it was the middle of the night and Marty was probably fast asleep. She tried to go to sleep but the quietness of the flat unnerved her. One quick peek, just to reassure herself she decided. 

She opened the door and gave her eyes a moment to adjust to the dim light of the living room. The duvet was thrown haphazardly across the back of the sofa with no sign of Marty. The kitchen along Sonya and her parents rooms proved equally empty. The door was unlocked. 

“Marty” Yaz called out. Hearing no reply she cursed, threw on her coat and shoes over her pajamas and ran out into the night. 

“Marty.” she didn’t get far before she spotted her. 

“Marty what are you doing out here. I was worried.” 

Marty turned around, wild frantic eyes not getting any calmer when she spotted Yaz. “Yaz, sorry can’t stop to chat” her eyes darted around as she spoke never settling on anything in particular.

“Why not? Marty can you stop for a second and tell me what’s going on.”

“I don’t know” she sounded near tears, she was still dressed in Yaz’s spare pajamas Yaz noticed. She wasn’t even wearing shoes. Yaz winced eyeing the rough tarmac she’d been running on. “What do you mean you don’t know” Yaz did her best to sound calm in the hopes that the feeling would transfer to Marty. 

“I don’t know. I just know I’ve been in one place too long. I need to run.” With that Marty took off. Yaz tried to keep up but even barefoot Marty was fast. It didn’t take long for Yaz to lose track of her.


	4. Chapter four

Spending her nights searching for Marty seemed to be becoming a habit for Yaz. eventually she had been forced to return home. 

Glancing at Marty's clothes still crumpled in a heap where she’d thrown them the night before Yaz consoled herself with the fact that she would have to come back to get them soon. Hopefully.

Her mind flashed towards the woman she’d found the other night but she quickly pushed that thought out of her mind. She would be fine. She had to be. 

Yaz was making herself a cup of coffee in an attempt to reclaim some of the energy that her interrupted nights sleep had robbed her of when she heard the knock on the door. Looking through the peephole she spotted none other than Ryan Sinclair. 

She considered briefly whether or not it would be a good idea to let him in before banishing the thought. She was well able to look after herself. She was a police officer dammit. And besides she’d been to school with Ryan and she didn’t truly believe he meant any harm despite his suspicious behaviour where Marty was concerned. 

“Hi” she said as she opened the door.

“Hi” parroted Ryan looking just as awkward and on edge as she felt.

“How about a cup of tea” Yaz offered before realising her kettle was still spread across the kitchen in pieces.

“Yeah, she does that” Ryan said following her gaze with a laugh. 

Yaz laughed too. She felt marginally better with the acknowledgement of Marty's existence “I think we have some cans of coke in the cupboard.” 

“That would be great.”

“So what did you want to talk to me about.” Yaz asked when it became clear that Ryan wasn’t going to take the lead in the conversation. Ryan kept his attention focused on his can of coke forcing Yaz to speak to the top of his head. 

“When you came over the other day” Ryan paused as if to consider what he was going to say next. “Well me and Graham have been talking and we think somethings going on too.” 

“What makes you say that?” Yaz asked carefully.

“This isn’t like a statement or anything, I don’t want what I say to you getting back to the rest of the police.” Yaz paused unsure of what to do with that statement.

“That’s not really something I can promise but if you’re in some kind of trouble I’ll do my best to help.”

“It’s not like that. He paused before continuing. “Well at least I don’t think it’s like that. Don’t know much of anything if I’m being honest with myself.” He pauses as if sizing her up before continuing. “My nans got this friend see. Or I guess she had this friend.” 

“And that would be?”

“Yeah. She’s,” he started before taking a long swig of coke. “Well you’ve met her,” He shrugs once he’s finished. “She just kind of showed up one day. Her and Nan used to disappear for days not that Nan could ever tell me where they'd been. If it was anyone else I’d think they were cheating on Graham but not my Nan. She wasn’t like that.” 

He drummed his fingers on the table for a moment before continuing. “Then Nan, well y’know and I guess she didn’t take it well.

“She being Marty?”

That makes him smile for some reason. “Kind of. She doesn’t actually remember her name. Marty's just a nickname I came up with,”

“She doesn’t.” Yaz stopped and thought about it for amount. Yeah as worrying as that piece of information was it pretty much fit with what she already knew. 

“Depends on the day really but mostly she doesn’t remember much of anything. there’s something right weird going on with her though. She won’t go to the doctor about it but your a cop you can,” he sighs at the look on her face. “Nothing you can do about her is there?”

She shrugs apologetically. “Not in a professional capacity. at least I don’t think so anyway,”

“Suppose you can’t really arrest someone for stealing her memories huh?”

“No” she said slowly an idea beginning to form in her mind. “Ryan? How exactly did your Nan die?”

“She was electrocuted. You know that.”

“Hmm.” It was a weird coincidence. Too weird. “Do you mind waiting here for a bit. I need to make a call. Not about Marty.” she clarifies seeing his expression. “Just hang tight a second.”

The call was less than fruitful. Although really she should have come to expect that by now.

“This going to sound crazy and I’m not even sure I should be telling you.”

“I hate to break to you mate but we’re well past crazy.”

She can’t really argue with that. “It’s probably not even connected but,” she shrugged “there have been women disappearing lately. Like a lot of women.”

“And you think Marty’s what? Responsible?” 

“No! Of course not. I’m concerned about her. That’s all,” she protests willing herself not to shrink under his gaze. 

“What makes you think she’s involved?” his posture visibly relaxes at her words. 

“I found a woman in the same park I found Marty. She was,” Yaz shrugs “well she didn’t make it. But that’s not the weird part. I called into the hospital just know and there’s no record of her. No one remembers her. Nothing. It’s like she never existed.” 

“Right. Yeah. that’s definitely weird.” Ryan nods visibly shaken. “So what do we do about it?”

“We investigate I guess. I can ask around at work and you can,” she pauses realising that she doesn’t actually know what Ryan does. 

“I can do my own research. Graham can probably ask around too. His bus driver mates are the biggest gossips I know, maybe they know something.”

“Meet back it your place after my shift.” 

“Sure. we can do a proper debrief and all.”

As soon as she gets to work Yaz makes a beeline for Rogers to ask about Marty only to get a blank look in return. 

“You have to remember her. The blonde woman you brought in the other night. The one who bit you,” Yaz gestures to his still bandaged hand in desperation. 

“No one bit me Officer Khan.” he says although he frowns at the bandage as if just now noticing it. 

“But,” she starts to protest but trails off at the look on his face. “Never mind I guess I was mistaken,” she forces out through gritted teeth. The last thing she needs is to end up on some kind of forced sabbatical. 

She’s suddenly struck by a moment of panic. She quickly sends a text to Ryan checking in and breathes a sigh of relief when he sends an answering selfie with Marty in the background, screwdriver in hand bent over something colourful on the desk. She looks up to realise Rogers is still watching her. She shuffles the papers on her desk trying to look busy only to pause. On the top of the pile is Martys half filled out form form the previous incident complete with fingerprints. That could definitely be helpful. 

* * *

She glances over her friend's shoulder with interest. “I think you need a different search engine if you want to get anywhere. The one you’re using only brings results from earth. You won’t get anywhere with that.”That will get her a laugh, got her a laugh? Whatever. It’s important to make your friends laugh so she laughs too. 

“What do you think I should use then?”

She gives the chair a few spins before shrugging. She drums her fingers in a steady beat against the arm of the chair. Her hands are itching for something to do. Anything really. She gives the chair another spin surveying the room. Her hand keeps up the steady rythym. The beat matches, something, she’s not sure what but it’s definitely something. It’s significant. Everything's significant. No such thing as a coincidence. Unless she’s busy. Is she busy? Is she busy? She could be busy if the room would just stop spinning. But it just goes by faster and faster. 

She raises her hands in a defensive action when a hand clamps against her shoulder.

“You good?” 

She blinks up in the direction of the voice only to meet a pair of warm dark eyes. A friend. She thinks. The hand on her shoulder gives a gentle squeeze. Right. She needs to answer. “Of course I’m okay. I’ve told you before Grace I’m always okay.” 

That makes him wince for some reason. She’s got it wrong. She gives the room a quick once over for a way to fix it. Her eyes land on something bright and plastic under the bed. “If we’re investigating we need proper gadgets. She opens them up and begins to fiddle with the wiring inside. Something inside her seems to settle now her hands are busy. 

“My old spider man walkie talkies are gadgets now?”

She nods too focused on her work to respond. 

“I guess I’ll be Peter Parker then,” he jokes used to her not responding when she foccuses on a task. “And you can be Doctor Octopus” Ryan, that’s his name she’s sure of it, laughs but suddenly it doesn’t feel like a joke. 

“Oh”

“Oh?”

“I like that. It feels right.”

“What Doctor Octopus.” 

“Doctor. Hello i’m the Doctor.” she trys and yeah that definitly feels right. 


	5. Chapter five

Yaz runs through the front door without even bothering to knock. “I found something.”  
Ryan and Marty look up from the tangle of wires they were bent over in bewilderment at her sudden entrance.

“I found something, ”she repeats “I found Marty, well I found her record anyway.” She pulls the folder she had hidden beneath her coat. The one she hopes to whoever might be listening no one notices is missing.

“She’s been brought in for trespassing five times and petty theft twice in the past month but that’s not what’s interesting.”

“Marty's already taken the folder out of her hands and is flicking through the pages curiously. “Not alphabetical or chronological, which is good, never live chronologically if you can help it. Hmm are they in order of your favourite number of words?”

“I wasn’t really following any kind of system. They weren't sorted properly so I just threw what I could find into a folder before anyone could see what I was doing.”

She pauses licks the form on the top of the pile before giving them another shuffle and nodding to herself, “disorder is usually the best order. It means no one can prove you didn’t know what you were doing all along.”

“Do you remember doing any of this?” Ryan probes.

She shakes her head “I don’t remember but I don’t exactly not remember either.” 

Before they can ask what that means they’re interrupted by Graham bustling through the door. “I found something.” He doesn’t take a moment to greet them or even take off his coat. “I was talking to some of my old bus driver buddies and I found someone who knows you. You’re name was Jane Smith. You where a university professor.”

Everyone watches intently waiting for her reaction but she only shakes her head apologetically. 

“None of this sounds familiar?”

“Sorry” she shrugs, “You did some great research though. Thoroughly excellent work. Five points to Graham.”

“Can’t have been that great if you can’t even remember it,” Ryan mumbles before adding louder “Are you sure you sure it’s her you found and some random professor?” 

“It’s her alright. Look.” Graham pulls a newspaper clipping out of his back pocket and they all lean forward to take a closer look. 

It’s only a short piece about a local lecturer losing her job. Yaz absently notes the unusual combination of a dual doctorate in both physics and poetry but most of her attention is focused on the picture beside the article. It’s undeniably her. 

“You got fired for ranting about aliens?”

Marty or rather Jane makes a strangled noise beside her before straight up bolting. 

“I didn’t mean to upset her” Ryan shuffles guiltily. 

“I’ll go talk to her,” Yaz is on her feet before she’s finished her sentence. She’s so prepared to have to run after her that when she finds her friend sitting on the doorstep she stumbles with the unused momentum. 

“That’s not me.”

“Okay.” 

“It isn’t,” she sounded near tears “but it is. I don’t understand.

“Well” Yaz started feeling a bit at a losss herself, “I don’t think you have to. We can figure it out together. We’re your friends. That’s what we’re here for.” 

That gets her an uncertain smile at least. “Come on,” she says picking up the woman's hand and giving it a squeeze, “let’s go back inside.” 

They order pizza and spend the next hour talking about lighter topics before circling back to what they’re going to do next. It only takes a few moments of googling to find Jane Smiths apartment. They decide to split up to cover more ground with Yaz and Graham asking around the university to see if anyone knows anything and the remaining pair heading for Jane’s apartment. 

A part of yaz had hoped to hear of a well loved if a little quirky professor who was missed by her students. Most people she approached had no idea who she was talking about but the ones who did didn’t paint a pretty picture. 

“You mean the blonde from the physics department. I heard she was carted off to the nuthouse months ago.”

“Didn’t she have some kind of breakdown and get kicked out.”

“The martian? Yeah she’s long gone.”

She blinked back angry frustrated tears as she made her way back to Graham. She can see from the slump in his shoulders that he got much the same response as she did. 

“How could they be so heartless.It’s obvious there’s been something going on for a while and they just fired her. No one’s even checked where she is. She could be dead in a ditch for all they know.”

“I know cockle.” 

“But she,” she’s interrupted by a buzzing in her pocket. Her heart drops when she sees Ryan's name.

“Yaz, Yaz. Can you hear me? Do I need to be louder? Is this working? Are you in there? Yaz? Yaz?”

“I’m here. Where’s Ryan? What’s happening?” she buts in when it becomes clear her friend isn’t going to wait for a response. It would be funny if it wasn’t for the edge of panic in her voice.

“There’s someone downstairs. I can feel them.”

That throws her for a moment, “You can feel them?” 

“Mhmm. It’s like they’re calling to me. They feel old and angry and kind of familiar. “

“Familiar?”

“Yeah like.” There’s a thump and suddenly her friend sounds much further away. “Oh. Look at you. You’re,” the line goes dead.

“Marty. Jane.” Yaz swears before turning to Graham. “We need to go. Now.”

“Why? What’s happening?

Yaz doesn’t respond already running towards the apartment. She bursts through the door in a panic only to find the apartment completely empty. Well the furniture was there but there were no pictures on the wall. No personnel touches. No sign that anyone lived there and most importantly no Jane. 

Her heart skipped a beat at the sound of footsteps coming up behind her as she checked the last room but it was only Graham heaving for breath. 

“They’re gone,” she murmurs. Saying the words out loud makes it feel much more real.

“What do you mean they’re gone? They probably just went back to the house. They,” he stops, “What was that phone call about? Yaz this is my grandson we’re talking about.”

Before she can format an answer they're interrupted by the front door banging against the wall followed by a familiar sheepish apology. 

“Ryan.”

“Get off me Graham. What’s with you two?”

“Where were you? Where’s Jane?” Yaz asked, already looking passed him not letting herself feel relieved just yet.

“I’ve been downstairs talking to the property manager. What do you mean where is she? She wanted to stay here and search the apartment.”

“We need to find her” Yaz says, turning on her heel, to wound up to explain, and almost barrelling into a woman with the biggest cloud of curly hair she’s ever seen loitering in the doorway. 

“Sorry dears the door was open so I let myself in. What’s this about a missing person.”


	6. Chapter six

“Who the hell are you?” 

“Carol Malone private investigator at your service.” The woman flashes a card in front of their faces before shoving it back into her pocket before Yaz has a chance to more than glance at it. “So, what can you tell me about this friend of yours?”

Yaz shoots Ryan and Graham a look warning them to let her do the talking. “We don’t need any help thanks. We’re just waiting for our friend to come home so we can head out to dinner.”

“You sure there’s no trouble here? You look like a girl who goes out looking for trouble.” 

“I’m a police officer Ma’am. I assure you I can handle any trouble that might come up.” 

“Hmm. I bet you can'' Carol gives her a final once over while Yaz does her best not to blush before shrugging. “Pity you look like you could be fun to work with. Oh well feel free to call me if anything comes up,” she hands Yaz a card with a flourish before heading back the way she came heels clicking against the concrete floor.

“Why’d you send her away? It sounds like she could help.” Ryan asks as soon as it’s just the three of them.

“It just feels suspicious. I mean what was she even doing here if this flats been empty for months.” 

“That’s probably why she was here. She must have thought it was odd that Jane just up and vanished. You were just saying how weird it was that no one else was looking into this,” Graham interjects. 

“But she’s a private investigator not a police officer. We have know idea who hired her or what their intentions are. I just think it would be best for Marty if we kept a low profile.”

“How would you know what’s best for her? You've only known her for five minutes. “Why do you even care?”

Yaz stares for several seconds before turning away and leaving. By the time she’s reached the edge of the car park she’s taken off in a full on sprint. She can’t think past the roaring sound in her ears. She runs until she can’t anymore. She runs until her legs shake and she’s heaving for breath. She runs because she’s a coward and when things get hard she runs. 

She looks around but she’s too wound up to try and figure out where she is. There’s a row of houses but they’re just a standard suburban affair. The only thing that jumps out at her as unusual is a blue box at the end of the row. She sits against the box buries her head in her arms and just breathes for a bit. It felt good to have friends again and she resents the implication that she doesn’t care about them.

Eventually she lifts her head up and stares at the stars above her. They stretch out above her in an endless expanse. Her phone vibrates in her pocket but she ignores it in favour of sitting. She doesn’t know how long she sits there but eventually she becomes aware of the cold seeping through her trousers. It’s getting late and she feels a little silly just sitting there. There’s nothing for it to go home. 

She manages to make it to her bedroom without running into any of her family members. She’s glad. She really doesn’t feel like socialising anymore but before she even has time to get dressed for bed there’s a knock on her door. 

“Hey,” her sister sticks her head in the door before Yaz has a chance to answer. “You’re back late.”

“I guess,” she shrugs.

“Are you okay? You look a bit,” Sonya makes a gesture that Yaz isn’t sure how to interpret.

“I’m fine Sonya. I just had an argument with some friends and went for a walk to clear my head. I guess I lost track of time,” she waits for a comment about her lack of friends but it doesn’t come. Instead she sees Sonya's eyes flash to her discarded gym bag sticking out from under her bed and back to her again.

“Seriously Sonya I’m fine. Promise.” 

Sonya looks at her for another moment before shrugging “Just know you can talk to me, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

She tries to get ready for bed when Sonya leaves but she finds she can’t settle. Eventually she decides she needs another walk to clear her head. She feels a twinge of guilt about leaving without telling Sonya but it’s late and she can’t stand being cooped up in the house. Besides she’ll be home by morning with her sister none the wiser.

She doesn’t get far before she sees the last person she wants to talk to. 

“Well of it isn’t the little police officer. That friend of yours turn up? I find that looking for missing people always goes better with company.”

Yaz shrugs noncommittally. “Who are you looking for?”

“My husband.” 

“Oh,” Yaz says, startled “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, he always turns up eventually.”

Yaz absentmindedly kicks her trainer against the footpath as she tries to think of how to respond to that, “When did you see him last?”

“Oh it must have been about five years ago at this stage.”

“Five years? Is he on the missing persons list? I’m a police officer. I can help you look for him if you need me to.” 

Yaz resists the urge to jump backwards in surprise at the woman's answering deep chuckle “Aren't you just adorable. I wouldn’t worry too much he likes to wander but like I said he always turns up eventually.”

“Five years is a long time. Don’t you think you think you could do with all the help you can get.” Yaz knows she probably shouldn’t push this issue but honestly she’s feeling patronised and a little sick of being told she’s wrong or can’t do anything to help. “I just think you should make sure he knows you care about him” she says with a sigh leaning against the wall they’re standing in front of.

The woman eyes her for a moment before nodding. “Tell you what I’ll let you know if I need help if you do the same.”

“Deal.”

Once Carol has left she slips her hand into her pocket considering before dialling Ryan's number.

“I’m sorry for not talking to you and Graham before sending Carol away. We should be making decisions as a group,” she says.

“I already said it’s fine.”

“When?” she asks, confused.

“Just now,” Ryan sounds just as confused “Right before you said you thought you saw someone following you.” 

“No,” she frowns, “I literally just called you.” She pulls the phone away from her ear to check the length of the call to prove it only to double take when she sees the number. “Okay this is weird,” she says putting the phone back up to her ear as she scans her surroundings. “I’m coming back over.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Ryan says sounding just as unsettled as she feels. 

She sends a quick text to Sonya as she walks, considers for a moment before deciding to hold off on contacting Carol before talking to the boys.


End file.
